Looking for a telecaster bridge with 52.5mm string spacing.

chris_john

I'm putting together a partscaster Tele. The body is from a Mexican roadworn, and I bought a 2 piece walnut neck made by a local luthier.
The neck is very slim, and it is maybe less than 1mm narrower than the pocket. 
The problem I'm having is the low E coming off the edge of the board. I'm using a Wilkinson bridge with 54mm spacing.
Is it possible to find a vintage size 4 screw bridge, with 2-1/16 (52.5mm) string spacing, and is also a toploader rather than string-through?
I've seen some bridges with the narrow spacing, but they look longer and wider with the pickup hole in a different position relative to the screws.

gavin_axecaster

The 3 saddle bridges on the American Professional series are 52.5mm spaced (well, 2 1/16").

However they are not top load so you would need to drill the bridge. The mount screws and string through holes are in completely different places so will need to drill and won't be able to go string-through.

I'm not sure if they are sold as an aftermarket item but Stratosphere probably has them.

Alternatively if you need to drill the back edge of the plate anyway just use a standard Fender Pat Pend plate and drill the top-load holes for 52.5mm spacing. Same result, cheaper and no need to drill the body for new mount holes.

paulnb57

I have a couple of spare Tele bridges in the box of plenty, so just had a measure, thinking, just drill out the string through holes to allow the string to move over a little, but thats a no go......the width difference is quite significant in the scheme of things, a possibility might be to file a small groove into each saddle at the point you want your string(s) to be....or a different neck and use the current one for something else!...

Funkfingers

gavin_axecaster said:

drill the back edge of the plate [for] top-load holes for 52.5mm spacing. Same result, cheaper and no need to drill the body for new mount holes.

Good suggestion.

paulnb57 said:

file a small groove into each saddle at the point you want your string(s) to be.

This is what I would do.

Alternatively, find pre-slotted saddles with the string grooves made at the desired spacing.

chris_john

I managed to find a workaround but it's not perfect. I put the saddles from the Wilkinson in a cheap Chinese toploader bridge that came with Strat type saddles. This bridge has string holes drilled directly under the saddles, rather than off to the side like the Wilkinson. 
Then I turned the E saddle around so that the string is on the other side of the screw. However, it means that the string spacing between E and A is a bit closer than usual.

https://imgur.com/a/hIpiu1F